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What will happen if all the oxygen disappears from the earth, for just five seconds?
It's just five seconds! you might think.
You can hold your breath for about 15-17 seconds, on an average underwater, so what difference
will five seconds make?
You can survive it?
Right?
Oxygen is one of the basic necessities, without which, a substantial percentage of life, on
Earth, couldn't survive.
But, oxygen has a lot of major responsibilities, than just taking care of our breathing requirements.
Here's what you can look forward to, when oxygen is in absentia from this planet, for
just five seconds.
We all lather up with sunscreen, on the beach.
Yet, some amount of sunburn is expected.
But, if there were no oxygen, sunbathers, would end up with some serious tanning.
Ozone is molecular oxygen, and blocks the majority of UV light.
Without it, we are toast.
The daytime sky, would suddenly get a lot darker.
With fewer particles in the atmosphere, to scatter blue light, the sky would get a bit
less blue, and a bit more black.
Every machine, using an internal combustion engine, would suffer, as every internal combustion
engine would stall.
This means, every airplane taking off from a runway, would likely crash to the ground.
The planes in flight, could glide for some time.
Millions of people, all over the world, would be in grave danger.
All pieces of untreated metal, would instantly spot weld, to each other.
This is, one of the more interesting side effects.
The reason metals don't weld on contact is, they are coated in a layer of oxidation.
In vacuum conditions, metal welds, without any intermediate liquid phase.
Now, this is universal.
Everyone's inner ear would explode.
We would lose about 21% of the air pressure, in an instant.
This is a lot of stress on your delicate hearing faculties.
Every building, made out of concrete, would turn to dust.
Oxygen is an important binder in concrete structures, in the form of CO2, and without
it, the compounds do not hold their rigidity.
Imagine, the scale of mass destruction!
Every living cell, would explode in a haze of hydrogen gas.
Water is 88.8% oxygen; without it, the hydrogen turns into gaseous state, and expands in volume.
Not only that, the oceans would evaporate, and bleed into space.
Hydrogen gas, being the lightest, will rise to the upper troposphere, and slowly bleed
into space, through Atmospheric escape.
If oceans disappear, so will the vast life, it contains within.
Everything above ground, would immediately go into free fall.
As oxygen makes up about 45% of the Earth's crust and mantle, there is suddenly, a lot
less "stuff" beneath your feet, to hold everything up.
In conclusion, it would pretty much be an apocalypse situation.
Thus, hold dear the oxygen, we have, in a sea of pollutants, and earnestly try and care
for the dear trees, that keep it so.